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The ROK US military expenditure negotiations broke down, and the gap between the ROK's "offer" and t

The third round of negotiations between the United States and South Korea on the 11th US military cost sharing agreement in South Korea was launched in South Korea on the 18th, and broke down on the 19th due to serious differences between the two sides.

Yonhap reported that following the meeting the day before, song Enbo, the chief representative of the ROK, and James middot, the chief representative of the United States; DeHart held a closed meeting at 10:00 on the 19th, which was originally scheduled to last until 17:00. However, the US representative left in a hurry one hour later, indicating the breakdown of the third round of negotiations.

DeHart then confirmed to the media that the gap between the South Korean 'offer' and the US' asking price 'is too large,' so we shorten the negotiation time so that the South Korean side has more time to reconsider ', hoping that the South Korean side can make a new offer in the next round of negotiations.

Song Enbo told reporters on the 19th that there are serious differences between the ROK and the United States, 'the ROK will continue to patiently seek to reach a new agreement'.

The United States has stationed troops in South Korea since 1953, with about 28500 people. Since 1991, the two sides have signed 10 US military cost sharing agreements. The 10th agreement was signed in March this year and will expire on December 31. After three rounds of negotiations on the 11th agreement, there is still no result. It is expected that the two sides will enter the fourth round of negotiations as soon as possible.

Several media previously reported that the United States asked the ROK to bear nearly $5 billion a year, more than five times this year, which is difficult for the ROK to accept. According to the 10th agreement, the ROK will allocate 1.04 trillion won (about US $894 million) in 2019, an increase of 8.2% over the previous year.

A number of non-governmental organizations in South Korea held a rally on the streets of the capital Seoul on the 18th to protest the US pressure on South Korea to increase the proportion of military expenditure and 'extort (South Korean) taxpayers' money'.